Wednesday, March 3, 2021 | 3:35 p.m.
Days after some students in the Clark County School District returned to in-person classes, Democrats in Carson City announced a proposed bill to address the educational impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Back on Track Act, announced today by state Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop and Assemblywoman Natha Anderson, will ask Nevada school districts and the state Public Charter School Authority to submit plans to the state Department of Education to address learning loss caused by the pandemic. The plans can include in-person and virtual summer school options.
Lawmakers said they hoped to introduce the bill by the end of the week.
“We are asking districts to specifically address … our students who are most at risk, students who have experienced chronic absenteeism, our students with financial needs, our students who are not quite reading at (their) grade level, our pre-K, our special needs students, the list is long,” Anderson said.
Anderson, D-Sparks, said plans would include elements such as student transportation and how districts would provide meals. Any educators or staff who participate would receive supplemental pay equal to their regular contract pay rate.
The plans submitted by the districts would make use of federal relief funds. President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, making its way through Congress, would give states about $130 billion to disburse to school districts, according to a roundup from the conservative American Action Forum.
Negative impacts on students due to school closures have been noted throughout the pandemic. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization states that while school closures affect all students, the impact can result in disruptions that “exacerbate already existing disparities within the education system (and) also in other aspects of their lives.”
A report from the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, states that remote teaching has impeded learning, stressing that it is effective only if students have consistent access to technology and if teachers have been trained in remote instruction.
Dondero Loop, a former educator, said that remote learning can be difficult.
“I know firsthand there is no substitute for one-to-one instruction time with students, at any grade level, in any subject,” Dondero Loop said. “Our teachers are essential to the success of our kids.”
If the legislation is passed, districts will submit their plans within 30 days of the bill’s passage and will file reports by Oct. 31 detailing the programs’ results and how funding was spent.
